


Petrichor

by WhenFandomStrikes



Series: Lucifer Short Stories [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: -Ish, Angel Wings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because y'all can't take sadness, Car Accidents, Drabble, F/M, I'm a slave to all of you, Identity Reveal, Season 3, Temporary Character Death, There was a sad ending, but then everyone made me write a happy one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 05:07:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13427436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenFandomStrikes/pseuds/WhenFandomStrikes
Summary: pet·ri·chor (ˈpeˌtrīkôr) n. - a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.





	1. Petrichor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wollfgang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wollfgang/gifts).



> A gift for Wollfgang for being such an inspiration. Continue pumping out those lovely fics, darling.

Neither of them had seen the truck. Who could blame them? It was such a happy moment; a happy moment catapulted into heinous and confusing trauma within seconds.

Chloe had been driving.

Lucifer had laughed at her as he tossed her the keys to his corvette while they strode out of the precinct. They were headed to Lux to celebrate the capturing of a murderous drug-lord with a penchant for little boys. It had been a glorious victory for the two of them and Lucifer had easily convinced the detective that it was worth letting their hair down after such a rough, emotionally-draining case.

"It's raining, Lucifer." Chloe had said, chuckling softly as she held his keys in her hand.

"Your point, darling?" Lucifer asked, jumping over the passenger door while still beaming with pride after having punished such a cruelly vile human.

"How do I put the top up?" Chloe asked, opening the car door and getting in the more traditional way to sit behind the wheel.

"No need. Physics will handle it." Lucifer grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. "We may get a bit wet, but that's only part of the fun."

Chloe let out a snort of laughter at his ridiculousness. She took his endless flirting in such stride. It was just the way they worked now. He'd be suggestive, she'd laugh and ignore it, or sometimes have some sort of delightfully witty comeback for him.

"I'm sure I'll be nothing but bone-dry while I'm out with you." Chloe sniped playfully and Lucifer clutched his chest in mock-horror.

"Detective." He gasped. "You wound me."

With a bright giggle, Chloe started the corvette and they were out of the parking lot. It was only drizzling now, but the afternoon had been filled with downpours. The people of California were infinitely thankful. There had been a long, almost expected drought and the rain brought relief to the dry spell that had been torturing Los Angeles for weeks.

Peeling out onto the main road, Lucifer laughed boisterously and encouraged Chloe to use the raw power of the classic automobile to its fullest potential. The detective was clearly in high-spirits and maybe went a bit faster than the speed limit to take advantage of the rare opportunity to drive her friend's frankly really cool car. She still drove within the law (aside from the speed) so, when she saw the green light ahead of them, she didn't even consider slowing down.

Neither of them had seen the truck. Who could blame them? It was such a happy moment; a happy moment that they rarely shared these days.

Research has been published that shows it is possible to become free of the belt restraint during a rollover because of the design of the retractor and the single loop belt. In a rollover, the forces on the occupants are in multiple directions. As the forces change direction and magnitude, the belt retractor may lock and unlock each time, allowing more of the belt webbing to be spooled out. Once the belt is sufficiently slack, it no longer acts as a restraint to keep the occupant in the vehicle.

The semi had ran the red light (the police had discovered, much later, that the driver had been drinking) and easily scooped up the small sports car, flinging the vehicle over itself in a horrifying, crunching, blood-curdling roll. Metal was ground down into scrap as the two travellers were tossed from the vehicle and thrown onto the streets of LA with ragdoll-like animation.

Lucifer noted that, after all that riotous chaos, it was eerily quiet once the action was over.

Opening one eye, he could see smoke, fire, and the glistening of wet asphalt.

"Lucifer?" He heard Chloe call out softly.

With a soft groan, Lucifer attempted to roll over, but found himself with a broken arm and definitely a lot of other broken things that he couldn't account for in the pain and confusion. When he managed to get himself to turn completely over, he saw her.

Chloe was lying on her stomach, her cheek bloody from having been ground open by the pavement she'd clearly been dragged across.

"De...tect... tive..." Lucifer groaned, his voice too distant. That was odd. He felt so terribly weak.

"Lucifer?" Chloe whispered, unable to raise her voice and a small drop of relief tickled Lucifer's stomach as one warm, green eye managed to find its fuzzy way to him. "Hey... it's going to be okay..."

He could hear sirens in the distance. Someone must have called the police. Help was on the way.

"Of course... darling..." Lucifer croaked, but Chloe looked really pale and terribly concerned. That was only natural. They had just been ejected from a car to be trawled over the hardtop like rocks skipping over the surface of a lake. He noted her eyes and how wide they were. Her eyes kept flicking downwards. What was she looking at? Lucifer used the arm that wasn't broken to follow the trail Chloe's gaze left as it glanced down his body. Ice filled his stomach as his fingers grazed over the source of his partner's concern. A long, fairly large, piece of metal, that looked like it may have come from the windshield of his corvette, was sticking out of Lucifer's side, blood pouring from the wound and painting the wet pavement beneath him red.

"Oh..." Lucifer wheezed as his fingers disturbed the rod, sending a wave of blinding pain coursing through him.

"Shhh... don't move, Lucifer. Help is coming." Chloe whispered. She'd pulled herself closer to him, he realised, using her upper body to drag herself on what was clearly a broken leg to get nearer to her partner. "Just stay still. You're going to be okay."

But Lucifer could feel it. He could feel his life essence emptying out of him just like water down a drain.

"I... I don't think..." Lucifer began, his whole head beginning to spin and the world around him blurring out of focus. "I don't think I can wait that long."

Chloe hissed softly and reached out to take his good hand.

"Don't say that. You'll be fine." Chloe said, unable to stay remotely upright as she slumped down to lay next to him. " _We_ will be fine."

Lucifer could see her better now and he noted that Chloe's leg wasn't just broken. The bone in her thigh was sticking out in a sickening way that made Lucifer's head spin once more. She was bleeding just as badly as he was.

The  _help_ was going to be too late for both of them.

 _No._ Lucifer thought to himself. _No._ He couldn't let Chloe die here in the middle of some random Los Angeles street. She couldn't die like this... And certainly not so soon. She was a warrior and she deserved to go out like one. She deserved a blaze of glory fighting for justice not dying on the street the victim of a moronic driver in a boring car crash. She was still so bright and brilliant and beautiful and the world would be such a darker place without Chloe Jane Decker in it.  _No_. Lucifer would at least save _one_ of them.

"Come here, darling..." Lucifer whispered, tighten his grip on Chloe's hand the best he could and tugging slightly. She took the hint and shuffled towards him as best she could. "Listen and don't interrupt. There isn't much time."

Chloe watched him for a moment, but nodded and Lucifer used all his strength to keep his focus on remaining conscious and doing what he  _knew_ he needed to do.

"Chloe, I know you never believed me. I know you probably think me mad and you... you have put up with my idiosyncrasies with commendable valour." Lucifer said, his voice lowered to something akin to awe. He had to pause to breathe through some pain and reorient his head before continuing. Focussing was getting difficult so he had to make it quick, it seemed. "I have hurt you and I wish I had time to explain it all, but it appears that my time here is up."

"Don't say that–" Chloe interrupted and Lucifer squeezed her hand as tight as his weakened body would allow.

"Hush, love. I said not to interrupt." Lucifer chided, though there was absolutely no malice in his words. "I ask a favour of you. Take care of Maze. She is lost in this world and will be even more so without me. Guide her. She will need your strength."

Tears were now falling over Chloe's cheeks and it pained Lucifer to know that they were his fault, but he had to continue. Not much time now.

"When this is over, talk to Linda. She'll help you understand." Lucifer said, giving a small, sly smile. "I... bloody hell..."

Lucifer groaned and Chloe was on him in a moment, calling his name. He opened his eyes, not noticing he had closed them in the first place. She must have thought he had left already.

"I'm not done with you yet." Lucifer croaked with a broken chuckle. That got a smile from the detective and he drank it in, knowing that this was most likely the last time he was ever going to see such a beautiful sight. "Now, where were we...?"

He paused a moment, taking in what deep of a breath he could before releasing Chloe's hand and touching her face.

"I love you." He said, the words sounding rather pathetic in his own ears, but no less true. "Which is entirely new and terrifying and I'm sad to say I'll never have the opportunity to figure out what to do with it, or fix the damage I've caused, but I do know _one_ thing. I'm not going to let today be your last."

With that said, he let his wings unfurl with a rather ungraceful flop onto the wet pavement. Ignoring Chloe's gasp of shock, Lucifer reached out and plucked a feather from his left wing and brought it towards Chloe, the feather glowing with inner divine light.

"Be healed." He said, snorting internally at himself for sounding like one of his stupid siblings as he pressed the feather downwards and towards Chloe's broken thigh.

Light filled the street, blinding anyone and anything in the area. When the glow died down, Chloe's leg was repaired and she was looking down at Lucifer with broken amazement on her face.

"You... you're..." She stuttered, slowly shaking her head.

"I know..." Lucifer smiled wistfully, reaching up and touching Chloe's cheek and leaning in a bit to kiss her forehead before letting his hand fall away.

Lucifer closed his eyes and took a deep, final breath as he relaxed into the damp ground beneath him. He always enjoyed the scent of the earth after a fresh rain.

_Petrichor._

In a blink, his wings were gone...

... And so was Lucifer.


	2. Saudade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sau·da·de (souˈdädə) n. - a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For darkstarius who gave me the prompt for the second chapter. Apparently people desire a happy ending and who am I to deny them?

The paramedics insisted on taking Chloe first, loading her into the back of the ambulance while a second team worked on Lucifer. It didn't make any sense to her. She was fine. She was healed. Lucifer had healed her.

Lucifer, whose body was probably cold now. Lucifer who was an angel. Lucifer who was the _Devil._ Lucifer who was probably back in Hell.

Chloe had screamed at them, making it difficult for anyone to do their jobs as she clung to her partner begging them to let her stay. She couldn't let him go like that. She couldn't let him leave her. Not when it all made sense now.

The last thing she saw as the ambulance doors closed was the second team of medics ripping open Lucifer's expensive shirt to place the defibrillator electrodes onto his skin. He would have hated that.

The drive to the hospital was filled with questions she couldn't answer like,  _"What happened to your jeans?"_ and  _"Where did all the blood come from?"_

Honestly, she didn't care, so she told anyone who asked her the truth. They didn't believe her anyway. There was talk of head trauma and delusions and the need for a psych evaluation, but Chloe couldn't have cared less. Lucifer was gone only moments after he had confessed his love for her and saved her life... probably not for the first time.

This lead to thoughts of the encounter with Malcolm Graham. Had he really died on that hanger floor? And what about when she had been poisoned? Where had he acquired the antidote that was supposedly only located within the mind of the dead Professor Carlisle?

"This can't be happening..." Chloe sobbed as the medics tried their best to contain the hysterical woman in the back of their bus.

"Ma'am, it'll be alright. You're incredibly lucky." One of the medics said and Chloe couldn't help but think that there was no luck left in the world for her.

 

* * *

 

Hell was exactly as he remembered it. Of course, it was no surprise. Lucifer had put the damned place on autopilot centuries ago, for father's sake. That was the point. The less work he had to do the better, but it didn't mean that he liked it here. As he'd made it abundantly clear to anyone who would listen, he  _hated_ being here. Who wouldn't? And yet, here he was, without a corporeal form, stuck in Hell for all eternity....  _again._

"At least she's alive." Lucifer said aloud to himself as he started walking through the ashlaiden labyrinth that was his domain. "I hope she doesn't hate me."

He walked for what felt like centuries before deciding he'd had enough. Unfurling his wings, he gave one hard flap and launched himself into the air. Hell looked no different from up here. It was still dark and ashy and utterly horrible, even as he soared above it all.

"Hateful." Lucifer muttered to himself before tilting his wings slightly to begin gliding towards the maze's centre. He headed towards the dark palace that was once, and now forever would be, his home.

He was midway to the tall spire that marked his respite when a horrible shock rocked his body causing his whole being to veer violently off course. His wings froze and he began to fall, unable to orient himself properly.

The ground came vaulting up towards him and Lucifer began to panic when a second wave of pain shot through him. The next thing he knew, everything was black.

 

* * *

 

"Clear!" The medic shouted as he pressed the button and Lucifer's body seized on the cold pavement, jolting upright as the electricity coursed through his body.

A moment passed and the medics nodded to each other before resetting the machine.

"Clear!" Again, another torrent of energy tracked through the man's muscles.

"I've got a pulse!" The other medic cried and they quickly loaded Lucifer into the back of the second ambulance.

 

* * *

 

"Chloe, oh thank God, you're alright!" Dan cried as he entered the hospital with Trixie in tow. "I got the call ten minutes ago. They said you were in a car accident. I thought you were going to Lux?"

"Dan...  _Dan..._ " Chloe cried and she reached out for her ex-husband and pulled him into a tight hug. "He's gone. He's gone and he saved me..."

"Chloe, what happened? What's wrong?" Dan asked as Trixie climbed up on the bed to sit with her mother.

"Mommy, where's Lucifer?" She asked and the innocents of the question only pulled more wracking sobs out of Chloe's small frame.

 

* * *

 

"Caucasian male, mid-thirties, multiple lacerations and contusions." The medics rattled off as they wheeled Lucifer into the ER. He had been brought to a different hospital than Chloe. One with a trauma ward that was renowned for its surgeons. "Foreign object lodged in the midsection, massive blood loss. No pulse on arrival, defibrillator used on scene. Blood pressure seventy over forty, heart rate 30 BPM."

"Get me some O negative and get this guy into surgery, stat!" The ER doctor cried while other doctors and nurses scrambled around.

 

* * *

 

Chloe had eventually calmed down enough to tell Dan what had happened. She left out the wings and Lucifer being the  _actual_ Devil and the whole thing with him healing her with a feather. What bothered her the most was the fact that Lucifer was dead. He was gone.  _How?_ How could he be gone?

"Decker?" Maze's voice came from the doorway and she gave Chloe a small smile. "I told them I was your girlfriend so they'd let me in. What the hell happened?"

Maze. Mazikeen. If Lucifer was the Devil than this woman was truly the demon she claimed and Chloe burst into a fresh wave of tears.

"He's gone, Maze. He's gone." She weeped before launching into another wet retelling of the evening's events.

 

* * *

 

"What's with this guy? He should be dead." The surgeon said as they removed the long, metal rod from their patient's midsection. 

"I know, but his BPM and blood pressure are rising to normal." The other doctor nodded. "He must have someone upstairs looking out for him."

 

* * *

 

Dan had eventually taken Trixie home, leaving Maze to sit with Chloe. They sat in silence, with Chloe staring at the wall of her hospital room as if it were the most interesting thing in the universe.

"So, he's in Hell." Chloe said, finally breaking the silence and Maze's eyebrows rose as her head tilted curiously. Chloe turned to look at her roommate with a sad smile. "His wings are beautiful, though I'm sure he'd disagree."

Maze continued to stare in shock before the weight of Chloe's words hit her.

"You know." The demon said and Chloe gave her a slow nod.

"He saved me, Maze." Chloe said softly. "He used a feather and then I was fine, but... then... then he was gone... is he... is he in Hell now?"

Maze closed her eyes and sighed before giving Chloe a short nod.

"He's not allowed back in Heaven, so yes." Maze explained. "He's in Hell."

Chloe turned her head and returned her gaze to the wall she'd been staring at.

"He doesn't deserve that." Chloe said in a quiet voice and Maze slid her chair closer to take her friend's hand.

"You're right." Maze nodded. "He doesn't."

 

* * *

 

"Any word on next of kin?" The doctor asked as he approached the nurses station. "I mean, a guy with a name like  _Lucifer_ ,you'd think he'd know half of LA."

"We actually got one. A Chloe Decker, but it keeps going to voicemail." The nurse explained.

"Did you just say Chloe Decker?" A beat cop asked as he was passing the desk. "She's a detective. I heard she was in a bad accident tonight."

"That would explain the voicemail. Maybe she was with our patient." The doctor said, turning to the cop. "Do you know Lucifer Morningstar?"

"Do I?" The cop laughed. "That's Detective Decker's partner. He's a great guy. Was he in the wreck, too?"

"Can you find out where Miss Decker is?" The doctor asked and the cop nodded.

"Yeah. Give me a second and I'll ask dispatch." The cop smiled and pulled out his phone.

 

* * *

 

"I can't believe that this is real." Chloe said, gripping Maze's hand like a vice. "I never believed him and now..."

"Don't beat yourself up, Chloe." Maze said, shaking her head. "He always did whatever he wanted and what he wanted was to protect you. And now you know he's not really gone. He's just... somewhere else."

"Yeah, freakin'  _Hell_." Chloe spat and then groaned before releasing Maze's hand and sliding out of the bed. She was fully healed. She didn't have to stay in this stupid, stuffy hospital anymore.

"It's not like it would be for you humans." Maze said, clearly trying to reassure her. "He is the  _king_ of Hell. He is in charge. He's not going to be tortured or something. Sure, he'll be upset that he's stuck down there without a body, but he'll be alright.... eventually."

"What does that even  _mean_ , Maze? How can someone be  _alright_ in Hell?" Chloe exclaimed, thrusting her hands in the air before running her fingers through her now unruly hair. "If he doesn't have a body, doesn't that mean he's trapped there? He can never come back?"

"Well..." Maze frowned, trying to find the words but she clearly wasn't fast enough for Chloe.

"Right. He's gone. Forever. No passing go, no collecting two-hundred." Chloe said, tears starting to brim in her eyes once more. She felt like she would never stop crying. "And how can this happen? He's an angel. No! And  _arch_ angel, right? And yet he ends up getting killed by a  _car_!? How does that even make sense!?"

Chloe was growing more and more hysterical by the minute and Maze stood to approach her and grip her hands.

"It's because... dammit... I'm sorry, I'm bad at all this human feelings stuff, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to want to know why." Maze said, her eyes falling to their hands instead of Chloe's face.

"Mazikeen Smith, if you don't tell me the truth, so help me..." Chloe growled and, for some reason it reminded Maze of the way Lucifer would warn her that there was no arguing. Chloe Decker would make an excellent Queen of Hell.

"You." Maze said, her eyes only flicking up to Chloe's for a moment before falling back to their hands. "It's because of you. When Lucifer is with you, he's mortal. We never really understood the whole reason why, but that's the short of it. He's vulnerable only with you."

A long silence fell upon the pair before Chloe felt her knees go weak. Luckily, Maze was there with her demonic strength and she easily held the detective up and eased to her back towards the hospital bed to sit.

"Me?" Chloe gasped, her mind reeling for the millionth time that night. "He died because of me?"

"No. No, no." Maze said, shaking her head. "Don't go thinking about it like that. Lucifer is vulnerable around you, but he died because some asshat drove drunk."

"But... why?" Chloe asked.

"Because he was an asshole who couldn't hold his liquor." Maze responded and Chloe shook her head.

"No, not that guy. Lucifer." Chloe said, her eyes wide and pleading. "Why would Lucifer keep me around if I make him mortal?"

"I think we both know the answer to that, Decker." Maze said solemnly and Chloe understood immediately. Lucifer had told her as such. He had loved her. Of  _course_ he would stay with her.

"Detective?" One of the beat cops that was working the case knocked gently on the door and smiled softly at Chloe and Maze. "I just got a call from Beth Israel. Apparently Mr. Morningstar just got out of surgery and they are looking for his next of kin. They are saying he listed you as his emergency contact."

"Wait, what?" Chloe asked, her eyes going wide. "He's... he's alive?"

"That's what they are saying, ma'am." The cop nodded and Chloe was off the bed like a shot.

"Don't worry, Decker, I'll drive." Maze grinned as they practically ran out of the hospital, ignoring anyone who tried to stop them.

* * *

 

Lucifer felt like he'd been hit by a lorry, then the lorry back up and hit him again. His whole head was pounding and he was sure he hadn't drank that much last night. With a groan, he slowly opened his eyes only to close them immediately.

"Why is everything so bloody white?" He asked himself and, surprisingly, he heard a soft, slightly wet chuckle to his left. Opening his eyes again, he was greeted by the image of Chloe Decker smiling brilliantly down at him. Her eyes were damp, like she had been crying. What was that about?

"Well, look who's back." She grinned and Lucifer felt a small tap at his foot. His eyes left Chloe for a moment to find Maze grinning brightly at the end of his hospital bed. He was in the hospital? What the  _him_ for?

"What...? What happened? How long was I out?" He asked, not quite remembering anything past scaring the piss out of the child-diddler at the precinct.

"Three years." Chloe said gravely before her mask broke and she started to laugh.

"Ah, touche, Detective. Touche." Lucifer smiled just before the torrent of memories hit him.

The car crash. Saving Chloe from bleeding out. Telling her...  _showing her_... the truth. Going to Hell.

His face must have shown his realisation because Chloe reached out and ran her hand over his cheek as a tear escaped one of her beautiful eyes.

"It's okay." She said and Lucifer felt his heart start to beat faster. The fact that there was a monitor beeping loudly, giving away his emotions, wasn't helpful, but it clearly bemused the detective because she giggled softly. "I'm not going to stay. You need to get better and, from what Maze tells me, me being around doesn't help out much in that area."

"Detective..." Lucifer started, but Chloe quickly cut him off.

"It's fine. I promise. You just need to get better." She said and, to Lucifer's utter astonishment, she leaned down and place a soft, chaste kiss on his lips. "Call me when you get out of here. We have a lot to talk about."

"That we do." Lucifer nodded, his face still the picture of awe.

Standing up, Chloe made for the door only to pause and look back over her shoulder.

"And Lucifer?" She asked.

"Yes, Detective?" Lucifer responded, his eyebrows raised and his head tilted to the side.

"Don't you ever leave me again." Chloe said, her word holding a finality to them.

Lucifer couldn't help the genuinely brilliant grin that split his face before he gave her an affirming nod.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. This is it. Story over. HAHAHA! I've given you all the happy ending you wished for. Thank darkstarius and wine for making this happen. <3

**Author's Note:**

> *hands out tissues* A short, dark drabble while I let my longer fic cook in my brain. Should I do more of these? It seems to be a good outlet for other authors. Hope you all like! Let me know in the comments below.
> 
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